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The Scapegracers
(Scapegracers #1)
by
An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.
Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But wh ...more
Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But wh ...more
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Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
September 15th 2020
by Erewhon
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Start your review of The Scapegracers (Scapegracers, #1)

god is there any better combination of words than "lesbian witch"?
...more

4.25 Stars. This book was weird in some of the best ways possible and I had a blast reading it. This is YA paranormal but to get technical it’s almost more magical realism with witches and at times almost borders on horror. I could see Clarke writing a horror book in the future and easily excelling at it. This looks to be Clarke's debut which is impressive if true. This is the first book in the series and I just hope the wait is not too long for the next.
Over the years I have found my love for Y ...more
Over the years I have found my love for Y ...more

Apr 21, 2020
NAT.orious reads ☾
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
netgalley
4 angsty STARS ★★★★✩

⤐ Overall.
Listen, gals, anybody here who's ready to form a coven that pursues simple-minded, evil witted douchebags on the hunt for teenage girls? DM me if you have the resources. And by resources, I mean the gut and magic equipment. I'll bring the snacks and the humour.
This was kinda cool tbh? I went into this hati ...more
This book is for you if… you dig dark teenage witch vibes with a significant amount of gay and bi angst. It’s very high school-esque but satisfyingly so.

⤐ Overall.
Listen, gals, anybody here who's ready to form a coven that pursues simple-minded, evil witted douchebags on the hunt for teenage girls? DM me if you have the resources. And by resources, I mean the gut and magic equipment. I'll bring the snacks and the humour.
This was kinda cool tbh? I went into this hati ...more

After Sideways Pike, an outcast lesbian witch, is invited to perform a spell at the popular girls' Halloween party, she finds herself swept into their friendship. The girls throw killer Halloween parties, curse boys and try to find Sideways a girlfriend, all while exploring their powers, learning about the dangers of being a witch and forming their own coven.
This book is an ode to teenage girls, to weirdos, to friendship. It’s feral and raw and everything I wanted it to be and more. This book ha ...more
This book is an ode to teenage girls, to weirdos, to friendship. It’s feral and raw and everything I wanted it to be and more. This book ha ...more
![destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1614916030p2/15335689.jpg)
Apr 17, 2020
destiny ♡⚔♡ [howling libraries]
marked it as to-read
I said I wasn't requesting any more May releases, but there are queer witches and this is one of my favorite covers of my life, so... here we are
...more

I guess my point is that teenage girls aren’t supposed to be powerful, you know? Everybody hates teenage girls. They hate our bodies and hate us if we want to change them. They hate the things we’re supposed to like but hate it when we like other things even more, because that means we’re ruining their things. We’re somehow this great corrupting influence, even though we’ve barely got legal agency of our own. But the three of us – the four of us, counting you – we’re powerful.
On my blog. ...more

anyone wants to create a coven together to hex douchebags who hurt girls?
this book honestly had me at teenage lesbian witch and i loved it so much!!! the friendship!!! the magic!!! the atmosphere!!! everything is just so good!!
let me start of by talking about the friendship because it's one of my favorite things about this book!! is there something anything better than a friendship beginning with a hexing of douchebag who hurt one of them??? I THINK NOT. they also would do anything for each othe ...more
this book honestly had me at teenage lesbian witch and i loved it so much!!! the friendship!!! the magic!!! the atmosphere!!! everything is just so good!!
let me start of by talking about the friendship because it's one of my favorite things about this book!! is there something anything better than a friendship beginning with a hexing of douchebag who hurt one of them??? I THINK NOT. they also would do anything for each othe ...more

4.5 stars
This is the book I’ve wanted to read since the first time I watched The Craft when I was like five, since seeing Willow go dark and obsessing over Charmed and Sabrina every night. Witches are top tier, my absolute favourite, they are the bad asses of the mythical world and this is truly the perfect fledgling witch story.
We come into Scapegracers at the very beginning of a coven’s creation. Our protagonist, Sideways didn’t expect to find her coven among the untouchable popular girls, Da ...more
This is the book I’ve wanted to read since the first time I watched The Craft when I was like five, since seeing Willow go dark and obsessing over Charmed and Sabrina every night. Witches are top tier, my absolute favourite, they are the bad asses of the mythical world and this is truly the perfect fledgling witch story.
We come into Scapegracers at the very beginning of a coven’s creation. Our protagonist, Sideways didn’t expect to find her coven among the untouchable popular girls, Da ...more

Thank you Netgalley and Erewhon Books for the ARC.
let's begin with the few positive things I liked about this book.
I asked for this title because it sounded exactly what I was looking for: a teen lesbian witch with her coven and possibly a sapphic love story. I thought this was going to be similar to These Witches Don't Burn and I was going to have a great time.
What I got of that? The representation and the girls friendship/coven. That was the best part of the book.
Now.
I apologize in advance if ...more
let's begin with the few positive things I liked about this book.
I asked for this title because it sounded exactly what I was looking for: a teen lesbian witch with her coven and possibly a sapphic love story. I thought this was going to be similar to These Witches Don't Burn and I was going to have a great time.
What I got of that? The representation and the girls friendship/coven. That was the best part of the book.
Now.
I apologize in advance if ...more

What a witchy gay mischievous delight. I'm not even mad that I unwittingly read the first book in a series because I will absolutely be back for more no matter how long I have to wait.
Sideways Pike is your classic outcast, you know, that kid who everyone says is a Satan worshipper. Except it's more true in Sideways's case. She's a witch and a loner. But the loner part all changes the night three cool girls--ruthless Daisy, angelic Yates, and direct Jing--invite her to their Halloween party to d ...more
Sideways Pike is your classic outcast, you know, that kid who everyone says is a Satan worshipper. Except it's more true in Sideways's case. She's a witch and a loner. But the loner part all changes the night three cool girls--ruthless Daisy, angelic Yates, and direct Jing--invite her to their Halloween party to d ...more

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t think this is quite the book for me.
Following getting paid to do magic at a party for the popular girls Sideways finds herself swept up by these three girls and together they’re banding together with the strength of female friendship and forming a coven.
I was really into this concept a MC who is a lesbian witch?? Amazing.
But I wasn’t super drawn into the plot and didn’t really get invest ...more
I don’t think this is quite the book for me.
Following getting paid to do magic at a party for the popular girls Sideways finds herself swept up by these three girls and together they’re banding together with the strength of female friendship and forming a coven.
I was really into this concept a MC who is a lesbian witch?? Amazing.
But I wasn’t super drawn into the plot and didn’t really get invest ...more

Final Thoughts
”People don’t punish boys who hurt girls, because people don’t care about girls.”
You hear that?? It’s the sound of me grabbing my microphone and screaming about how EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK.The Scapegracers is an electrifying YA debut that features one lesbian witch, two explosive parties, and three badass popular girls. Put all that together with Witchcraft, morally grey girls, talking spell-books, and multiple queer/poc characters and you can see why this is a must read ...more
”People don’t punish boys who hurt girls, because people don’t care about girls.”
You hear that?? It’s the sound of me grabbing my microphone and screaming about how EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK.The Scapegracers is an electrifying YA debut that features one lesbian witch, two explosive parties, and three badass popular girls. Put all that together with Witchcraft, morally grey girls, talking spell-books, and multiple queer/poc characters and you can see why this is a must read ...more

loved it loved it v witchy v gay v feral

Sep 09, 2020
Althea
added it
Shelves:
sapphic,
lgbt,
arcs,
ya,
fantasy,
lesbian,
i-m-in-love-with-this-cover,
protags-of-colour,
paranormal,
ebooks
After the author's silence on their relationship with, and silence on the information being released about Emily A. Duncan, I have removed my rating and review for this book and will not be promoting it at least until real efforts have been made to make amends.
...more
...more

”Give us something obscene! Give us something to sink our teeth into! We demand magic!”
DNF at 50%.
This is a chaotic gay witch story that somewhat miraculously had multiple lead characters of color and I could have really enjoyed it...in theory. Who can’t get behind a protagonist with a name like Sideways? And I stan a beautiful, iridescent cover 😍
HOWEVER, there were definitely issues. Substantial issues. One, the plot. There mostly isn’t one, and there are super long scenes that don’t seem to a ...more
DNF at 50%.
This is a chaotic gay witch story that somewhat miraculously had multiple lead characters of color and I could have really enjoyed it...in theory. Who can’t get behind a protagonist with a name like Sideways? And I stan a beautiful, iridescent cover 😍
HOWEVER, there were definitely issues. Substantial issues. One, the plot. There mostly isn’t one, and there are super long scenes that don’t seem to a ...more

Oct 24, 2020
Alaina
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
2020-arcs,
romance,
2020-ng,
fantasy,
lgbtqa,
october-2020,
fiction,
young-adult,
contemporary,
paranormal
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Scrapegracers was such a fun book to dive into! I had no idea I was going to meet such amazing characters and be completely invested in every little thing that they did. Speaking of, you will meet Sideways. She is a witch, an outcast, and a lesbian. One day she is basically adopted by this trio of scary but super cool girls. Together they are just completely bad ass and I absolutely adored each and everyone of them.
Now ...more
The Scrapegracers was such a fun book to dive into! I had no idea I was going to meet such amazing characters and be completely invested in every little thing that they did. Speaking of, you will meet Sideways. She is a witch, an outcast, and a lesbian. One day she is basically adopted by this trio of scary but super cool girls. Together they are just completely bad ass and I absolutely adored each and everyone of them.
Now ...more

This was an absolute fever dream of a book. I LOVED the characters, I enjoyed the tricky, slippery grasp on reality that it felt like our MC (faux-leather-jacket-wearing lesbian witch Sideways Pike) had, and I was EXTREMELY into the writing style (Visceral! Gritty! Tactile! Funny! If you like Gideon the Ninth, boy do I have a book for you!). My only tiny quibble is that I don't like it when books are set-ups for sequels and don't feel self-contained, but I had so much fun I'll definitely be back
...more

May 25, 2020
andrea caro
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
witches,
girls-girls-girls,
unfinished-series,
lgbtqia,
halloween,
young-adult,
read-in-2020,
arc,
favorites-2020
4.5 stars.
I have found it - my new favorite witchy read.
Truthfully, this book wasn't on my radar until a couple of weeks before it's original release date (it's since been pushed back to September, possibly due to COVID). For whatever reason, I was reluctant to pick up the arc that I was gifted, though the synopsis made one thing fundamentally clear: queer witches.
Sideways, a lesbian witch outcast in her high school, gets paid $40 bucks to make some magic happen at a Halloween party. She collect ...more
I have found it - my new favorite witchy read.
Truthfully, this book wasn't on my radar until a couple of weeks before it's original release date (it's since been pushed back to September, possibly due to COVID). For whatever reason, I was reluctant to pick up the arc that I was gifted, though the synopsis made one thing fundamentally clear: queer witches.
Sideways, a lesbian witch outcast in her high school, gets paid $40 bucks to make some magic happen at a Halloween party. She collect ...more

May 20, 2020
Juan Manuel Sarmiento
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1-5-stars
I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity.
The Scapegracers follows Sideways Pike, a teenage lesbian girl that makes spells for money. With an atmosphere and a writing style that reminds of a mix of Mean Girls and some generic brand of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, we're slowly getting into a plot with a boy cursed, a girl and some witch hunters.
All of this may sound good but the execution is confusing and poor. We get bombarded by the L w ...more
The Scapegracers follows Sideways Pike, a teenage lesbian girl that makes spells for money. With an atmosphere and a writing style that reminds of a mix of Mean Girls and some generic brand of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, we're slowly getting into a plot with a boy cursed, a girl and some witch hunters.
All of this may sound good but the execution is confusing and poor. We get bombarded by the L w ...more

I didn’t love this book but I didn’t dislike it.
The book started off fast pace but then the story to me went really slow and was a bit repetitive. Maybe as it Is the first book in the series in will pick up more in the second book.
I did like some of the characters though. We have Sideways (that is her nickname) whose really name is Eloise who is a outcast and has been practising magic for years. The three others of the group that Sideways joins are Jing, Yates and Daisy. At the start of the boo ...more
The book started off fast pace but then the story to me went really slow and was a bit repetitive. Maybe as it Is the first book in the series in will pick up more in the second book.
I did like some of the characters though. We have Sideways (that is her nickname) whose really name is Eloise who is a outcast and has been practising magic for years. The three others of the group that Sideways joins are Jing, Yates and Daisy. At the start of the boo ...more

4 / 5
this was really great!! one of my favorite aspects was the writing style. it was expressive and beautiful as well as aggressive and visceral in a way i really appreciated. the witchery bits were cool, although i kind of wish they were expanded upon more, and something about the plot fell short for me, but i can’t really explain it. it’s probably something very subjective.
but, i loved the characters and i kinda had a crush on jing and i don’t even know why fkhfjjd they were very badass and i ...more
this was really great!! one of my favorite aspects was the writing style. it was expressive and beautiful as well as aggressive and visceral in a way i really appreciated. the witchery bits were cool, although i kind of wish they were expanded upon more, and something about the plot fell short for me, but i can’t really explain it. it’s probably something very subjective.
but, i loved the characters and i kinda had a crush on jing and i don’t even know why fkhfjjd they were very badass and i ...more

This was way more fun than anticipated!
I mean, I really hoped it would be fun, because there's not many things that are better than lesbian witches imo.
I had my problems with it at first. I didn't particularly like the writing style, it felt fabricated and... stilted, I guess? It took me almost a third to get used to it. But once I did, and got really invested in Sideways and her newly acquired friends, I really liked this!
And since I somehow got even worse at writing reviews that aren't bullet ...more
I mean, I really hoped it would be fun, because there's not many things that are better than lesbian witches imo.
I had my problems with it at first. I didn't particularly like the writing style, it felt fabricated and... stilted, I guess? It took me almost a third to get used to it. But once I did, and got really invested in Sideways and her newly acquired friends, I really liked this!
And since I somehow got even worse at writing reviews that aren't bullet ...more

Non-Spoiler Section 📕
First off I want to give a big thanks to Kensington Books, Hannah Abigail Clarke and NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for a non-bias review.
Now with that being said let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book. There were Witches, POC characters, LGBTQ Characters and so much more. This book really showed how diverse the world actually is. This book gives me American Horror Story Season 3 vibes in the Best way possible. It has such a Dark ...more
First off I want to give a big thanks to Kensington Books, Hannah Abigail Clarke and NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for a non-bias review.
Now with that being said let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed this book. There were Witches, POC characters, LGBTQ Characters and so much more. This book really showed how diverse the world actually is. This book gives me American Horror Story Season 3 vibes in the Best way possible. It has such a Dark ...more

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📗 There's a really great book hidden in these pages, but it took me a while to find it. Scapegracers is a fantastically dark, queer, witchy book set in small town America, but the actual plot was all over the place, as if it couldn't decide between the parties, the events in the mansion, the brothers Chantry or Sideway's potential love interest, so it decided to just go with all of them.
📕 The girls themselves as a group are amazing, but it took me a while to g ...more
📗 There's a really great book hidden in these pages, but it took me a while to find it. Scapegracers is a fantastically dark, queer, witchy book set in small town America, but the actual plot was all over the place, as if it couldn't decide between the parties, the events in the mansion, the brothers Chantry or Sideway's potential love interest, so it decided to just go with all of them.
📕 The girls themselves as a group are amazing, but it took me a while to g ...more

This book was... something.
I expected so much about this book because of the “lesbain witch finds coven” stuff. I was immediately sold after reading that. But I didn’t enjoy this book at all. The writing was nothing for me and i was confused all the time. I felt like the story went nowhere, if there was even a story at all. I hoped the confusion would go away after perhaps 50 pages, but it didn’t. I thought it was just me but luckily my friends Giulia and Michelle had the same problem.
The only ...more
I expected so much about this book because of the “lesbain witch finds coven” stuff. I was immediately sold after reading that. But I didn’t enjoy this book at all. The writing was nothing for me and i was confused all the time. I felt like the story went nowhere, if there was even a story at all. I hoped the confusion would go away after perhaps 50 pages, but it didn’t. I thought it was just me but luckily my friends Giulia and Michelle had the same problem.
The only ...more

This was so good! Like, does it have flaws? Absolutely not because I love it. Was there repetitive word choice and a loose plot? Yeah, but I couldn't care yes. The characters are vivid and messy and FUN, the magic is painful and mysterious and angry, and it's filled to the brim with queer girls.
I feel like I want to describe this book by riffing on how Maggie Stiefvater describes her Raven Cycle books—Outcast girls! Scared girls! Angry Girls! Powerful girls! Collect them all! Hannah Abigail Clar ...more
I feel like I want to describe this book by riffing on how Maggie Stiefvater describes her Raven Cycle books—Outcast girls! Scared girls! Angry Girls! Powerful girls! Collect them all! Hannah Abigail Clar ...more

I really love the premise of this book. Witches, high-school drama, friendships, queer and poc rep? Sign me up! If this type of book sounds appealing to you-- it's worth the read. However, the major issue I had with it was pacing. I wanted to enjoy this book so much, but often found myself frustrated or confused because there were whole sections where nothing was happening or developing. I also think there might have been more depth to the book if the side characters had been explored a little m
...more

The Craft: Legacy (2020)
This feels likes this movie (or what this movie is going to be like) or something, it wasn't bad but a lot happened at the same time and left me a little confused, i expected more sapphic and witch elements.
...more
This feels likes this movie (or what this movie is going to be like) or something, it wasn't bad but a lot happened at the same time and left me a little confused, i expected more sapphic and witch elements.
...more
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“I used to underline passages in my English books, because certain lines crawled off the page, because those lines were magic and they meant something on a cosmic scale.”
—
6 likes
“I guess my point is that teenage girls aren't supposed to be powerful, you know? Everybody hates teenage girls. They hate our bodies and hate us if we want to change them. They hate the things we're supposed to like but hate it when we like other things even more because that means we're ruining their things. Were somehow this great corrupting influence, even though we've barely got legal agency of our own. But the three of us the four of us, counting you were powerful.”
—
6 likes
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